Sir John's reply, as he
reported it himself, was sufficiently conclusive: "I answered that it
was a very difficult business to prosecute; that the act, it was
understood, had been drawn by Lord Mansfield, the Attorney-general
Thurlow, and the Solicitor-general Wedderburn, who, unluckily, had made
all persons present at the marriage guilty of felony. And as nobody
could prove the marriage except a person who had been present at it,
there could be no prosecution, because nobody present could be compelled
to be a witness."--THORP'S _Life of Eldon_, i., 235.]
[Footnote 29: A protest against the bill, entered by fourteen peers,
including one bishop (of Bangor), denounced it, among other objections,
as "contrary to the original inherent rights of human nature ...
exceeding the power permitted by Divine Providence to human legislation
... and shaking many of the foundations of law, religion, and public
security."--_Parliamentary History_, xvii., 391.]
[Footnote 30: The import duty on wheat was fixed at 6_d_. a quarter on
grain, and 2_d_. per cwt. on flour, when the price of wheat in the
kingdom should be at or above 48s.; when it was at or above 44s., the
exportation was to be altogether prohibited.--_Parliamentary History_,
xvii., 476.]
[Footnote 31: See Hallam, "Constitutional History," iii.
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